EDMONTON -- The Mustard Seed is applying to use an empty CESSCO warehouse on 99Street to use it as a temporary homeless shelter over the winter.

The privately owned building at 75Avenue, currently zoned for industrial use, has sat empty for years.

But at nearly 10,000 square feet, it could house up to 120 people physically distanced, and its owner has agreed to let Mustard Seed use the space.

The agency has applied for a special event development permit with the hope of opening Nov. 1.

“Those hundred-plus beds that Mustard Seed wants to open up are going to be sorely needed over and above what Hope (Mission) does traditionally, and what the City is looking to do at the conference centre,” Mayor Don Iveson commented. “We need room for everybody this winter.”

The Mustard Seed’s other shelters south of the river are at capacity.

The agency’s plan wouldn’t be to spend city money on operating the warehouse, but earmarked federal funding which would carry it through to May 21, 2021.

If the application is approved, and the parties wished to continue using the site beyond May 21, 2021, they would need to apply to have it rezoned.

Correction:

An earlier version of this story said the Mustard Seed was seeking to rezone the property. It is only applying for a temporar events development permit to operate a shelter in the CESSCO building until May 21, 2021.